Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Lithops in the Mist

Quite by accident, I came to note that Lithops, at least young Lithops, like a nice morning mist. The young Lithops that I grew from seed are about 2 years old now, and they live near my Tillie Towers, which get a daily morning misting:

Detail of a Tillie Tower

I've noticed that the pots of Lithops that get the accidental misting have been regenerating with greater strength and resilience than those that don't get the mist. So I've started misting all of the Lithops several times a week. It makes sense that they would enjoy some good morning dew, as in their native desert environment, that would be a good way to get a little water, and dew is not unusual in the desert in the morning. We have had lower humidity here in the last year or so, and even though it's a tropical zone, the house seldom rises about 40% humidity. Do any of you mist your Lithops?

I'm going to start misting my lithops after reading this. I had read the typical advise to only water lithops a few times a year, but I was looking for advice because mine don't seem too happy with that treatment. I was always afraid of over watering them though.

Lori, mine have been doing well with occasional misting. It could be because in their native environment, they get a fair amount of dew in the mornings. I've kept them on the same watering schedule, just adding mistings to it. Happy gardening!